Kurt Russell, Turkish cinema in first wave of Fantastic Fest films

Fantastic Fest announced the first wave programming lineup for its 11th annual festival of genre madness including the world première of Craig Zahler’s amazingly-named, festival-closing existential horror western “Bone Tomahawk”with Kurt Russell and Matthew Fox in attendance, a retrospective of Turkish Genre Cinema, and a Mondo Gallery event. and programming series curated by filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (“Drive”) in connection with his new book “Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing,” about Refn’s collection of vintage exploitation-era American movie posters.

Refn will screen three of the films featured in the book — “Farewell Uncle Tom, The X-Rated Supermarket and “My Body Hungers” — during the fest’s opening weekend, while the Mondo Gallery will exhibit 15 of his posters.

This year’s poster is comprised exclusively of elements from classic Turkish movie art, of which there will be over 60 original movie posters on display at the festival.

Here is the full list as the folks from FF sent it:

BONE TOMAHAWK (United States, 2015) World Premiere, 133 min

A still from “Bone Tomahawk”

Director – S. Craig Zahler

Kurt Russell stars in this character driven and at times horrific Western about a group of men (including Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins) who set out to rescue a local woman and a young deputy who’ve been kidnapped by a tribe of cannibalistic troglodytes.

DARLING (United States, 2015) World Premiere, 78 min

Director – Mickey Keating

A young woman slowly goes crazy after taking a job as the caretaker for an ancient New York home in the new film from writer/director Mickey Keating.

THE DEATHLESS DEVIL (Turkey, 1972) Repertory Screening, 84 min

Director – Yilmaz Atadeniz

The mysterious Dr. Satan’s nefarious plans threaten the future of everyone on the planet, and the only men who can stop him are the brilliant Copperhead and his assistant Sherlock Holmes!

DER BUNKER (Germany, 2015) North American Premiere, 85 min

Director – Nikias Chryssos

A student rents a room from a family in their converted army bunker, and ends up the tutor to the child and a virtual slave to the parents.

FAREWELL UNCLE TOM (Italy, 1971) Repertory Screening, 123 min

Directors – Gualtiero Jacopetti, Franco Prosperi

The first movie based on historical facts about the rise and revolt of slavery in America is one of the most brilliant, misunderstood and reviled of all time.

GERMAN ANGST (Germany, 2015) US Premiere, 111 min

Directors – Jörg Buttgereit, Michal Kosakowski & Andreas Marschall

German directors Buttgereit, Kosakowski and Marschall unleash this brutal assault on the senses, a surreal three-part horror anthology touching on love and hate and everything in between.

IN SEARCH OF ULTRA SEX (France, 2015) North American Premiere, 60 min

Directors – Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine

A pandemic infects people everywhere with infinite lust, and the only ones who can save us are a group of astronauts in space, desperately looking for a solution.

THE INVITATION (United States, 2015) Special Screening, 97 min

Director – Karyn Kusama

A haunted man attends a dinner party at the house he once called home, and becomes gripped with paranoia that his ex-wife and her new husband are harboring an insidious agenda.

LIZA THE FOX FAIRY (Hungary, 2015) Regional Premiere, 98 min

Director – Károly Ujj-Mészáros

Somewhere in 1970s Budapest, nurse Liza dreams of romance. But as all her suitors die in violent and extreme ways, she begins to fear the worst: maybe she is really a fox fairy, doomed to remain alone forever!

LOVE AND PEACE (Japan, 2015) US Premiere, 117 min

Director – Sion Sono

Fantastic Fest staple Shion Sono returns once again with a deeply personal (and expectedly odd) film about a lonely businessman with dreams of punk rock stardom and his best friend, a turtle.

LOVEMILLA (Finland, 2015) North American Premiere, 97 min

Director – Teemu Nikk

LOVEMILLA is a delightful peek at life and love in Finland, filled with all the usual zombies, black holes, giant pandas and superheros you’d expect from the land that gave us Renny Harlin.

THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD (Turkey, 1982) Repertory Screening, 91 min

Director – Çetin İnanç

There has never been and will never be another film like THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD, and your only chance to discover why is at this special Fantastic Fest screening!

MY BODY HUNGERS (United States, 1967) Repertory Screening, 80 min

Director – Joseph W. Sarno

A roadhouse hostess goes undercover to investigate the murder of her sister in a little-seen sexploiter from grindhouse rebel and master of erotica Joe Sarno.

OFFICE (Korea, 2015) US Premiere, 111 min

Director – HONG Won-Chan

OFFICE is the story of Kim, the salaryman who one day brutally murders his entire family with a hammer, and Lee, the put-upon intern at his workplace. It’s dark-as-night corporate satire hiding behind a slasher veneer with scares so well timed, you’ll jump out of your seat non-stop.

REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF (Turkey/Germany, 2014) US Premiere, 96 min

Director – Cam Kaya

Welcome to Turkey. It’s home to Yesilcam, the Turkish Hollywood where, in the late ‘70s, dreams were built on nothing more than a dime. Both a loving tribute to the burgeoning cinema of this young country and a trip into history, REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF brings you the most outlandish story you’ve never heard, about filmmaking so dangerous that you need a safety harness just for watching.

Caroline Menard is a woman in her thirties who has lost everything. As she moves into a new apartment searching for a new start, she’s unaware that something ancient is waiting for her.

THE SIMILARS (Mexico, 2015) World Premiere, 89 min

Director – Isaac Ezban

On a dark and stormy night, eight strangers are stuck in a small bus station waiting for a bus to Mexico City. When strange things start happening, they find themselves trapped in a struggle for sanity and survival.

SPEED (South Korea, 2015) North American Premiere, 104 min

Director – Lee Sang-woo

Four friends navigate sex, love and life in a heart-breaking new film from Korean director Lee Sang-woo.

STAND BY FOR TAPE BACK-UP (United Kingdom, 2015) US Premiere, 65 min

Director – Ross Sutherland

Hypnotically scanning the contents of a VHS tape, this experimental essay-film eulogizes the former custodian of the analog artifact, transforming its recordings of GHOSTBUSTERS and FRESH PRINCE (among others) through rap-infused anecdotal narration, and inscribing both profound and hilarious associations to the tracking-lined images. STAND BY FOR TAPE BACK-UP will be presented as both a traditional screening as well as a live performance by creator Ross Sutherland.

TARKAN VS THE VIKINGS (Turkey, 1971) Repertory Screening, 86 min

Director – Mehmet Aslan

Based on one of the most popular comic strips in Turkey. this rip-roaring adventure sees Tarkan and his trusty wolf companion Kurt take on the despicable Viking invaders after they leave him for dead!

VICTORIA (Germany, 2015) Regional Premiere, 138 min

Director – Sebastian Schipper

Sebastian Schipper’s fourth directorial work is a single-shot tour-de-force that follows a Spanish barista through a dance club, the streets of Berlin, a coffee shop, a bank robbery and her destiny.